Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United plight hammers home stark reality for Swansea City and Russell Martin

“The idea to have alternative plans, which is considered a virtue, I don’t really share this point of view. Our goal is to do better, not to stop what we are doing or change the style."

So said Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa when questioned on the merits of a 'Plan B' to his brand of entertaining high-octane football back in 2018.

Bielsa, while a highly respected name in world football, hadn't yet made his stamp on English football, and a 2-2 draw at Swansea City was clearly enough to prompt some early questions over his way of doing things.

For what it's worth, anyone who utters Bielsa's name in certain parts of west Yorkshire will be met with almost universal adulation, but in the end those doubts overtook the Argentine.

When news broke of his impending departure from Elland Road, hours after the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham, the crescendo of questions of Bielsa's apparent stubbornness for change had arguably reached its peak.

Over the course of this season, Martin Keown has picked up on his refusal to turn away from man-marking, Paul Merson has questioned whether Bielsa's 'full blast' approach merited his apparent 'genius' tag while one tabloid title wrote him off as a gimmick pedalled by 'broadsheet hipsters'.

In short, the critics believed Bielsa was undone by his refusal to change, rendering his methods, a little, well, predictable.

Incidentally, 'predictable' was a word that was batted away by Russell Martin this week, with the Swansea boss launching a defence of his own philosophy that showed a certain level of overlap with the Argentine in light of last weekend's calamitous defeat at Sheffield United.

Nothing raises concerns like a few thumping defeats - a record of 14 goals conceded in four games looks to have